


Round Robin

by FridaysChild



Category: DCU, DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-25
Updated: 2011-10-25
Packaged: 2017-10-24 23:22:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/269035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FridaysChild/pseuds/FridaysChild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the DCnU meme prompt, "It's Batman and Robin, always. Except Dick isn't Batman anymore. But that doesn't matter - even though Damian starts every night at Bruce's side, he always ends the night at Dick's."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Round Robin

Dick senses Damian coming up behind him before he’s settled next to him on the ledge. Dick is watching some suspicious activity that may or may not be a major deal involving something illicit in a building across the street. Damian is supposed to be with Bruce figuring out what the cause of the latest gang war is.

“Did you fight with Batman again?” Damian and Bruce’s relationship makes his own with the man look downright soporific.

“He doesn’t trust me.” Damian smacks the bottom of his fist against the ledge. “I was taking down men like them when I was three.”

Dick’s never positive whether Damian is exaggerating when he says things like that. “Does Batman know you’re with me?”

“Possibly.”

Dick sighs and hits the button on his comm. “O, can you let Batman know that Robin found me again? I’ll take him from here.”

He can hear the amusement in Barbara’s voice. “Face it, N, the baby bird imprinted on you and he thinks you’re his mommy now.”

“Not funny. Do you have anything productive to say?”

“Hang on.” There’s a pause on her end of the line. “Red Robin says he’ll take over the surveillance; he’s got a situation developing that might benefit from an extra set of hands.”

Dick suspects that Tim could handle the situation fine on his own, but Damian has surveillance down and doesn’t need further training and there’s nothing less efficient than having two people watching a building with only one exit. “Tell him thanks.”

Barbara gives him the address and he and Damian swing off to check things out.

 

Damian likes to pretend he doesn’t ever have nightmares. Dick knows it’s a lie, though - everyone has bad dreams, it’s simply the content that differs. Young kids have nightmares about dinosaurs and clowns and horrible natural disasters. Normal adults have nightmares that they forgot to pay a bill or woke up late for work. And in their community, the nightmares are about the ones they didn’t save. Much as Damian doesn’t act like it, he’s still ten years old, and Dick can’t imagine that being raised the way he was gave him the best coping skills.

Damian’s not going to admit it, though. There are nights (early mornings, really) where he shows up in Dick’s room in the predawn light with a flimsy excuse about his mattress being too lumpy, or his room being too cold, or the cat came into Dick’s room and he’s just following her. Dick doesn’t comment, just slides over and makes room for Damian to crawl into bed next to him. The kid needs a lot more cuddles anyway. Dick is fairly sure, in fact, that he’s the only person that’s ever hugged Damian.

So Dick fakes sleep and rolls over and throws an arm around Damian; Damian knows he’s awake but goes along with the script and pretends he doesn’t. He’ll close his eyes, fake sleep himself, and cuddle closer, head tucked under Dick’s chin, knees tucked up a little so they bump against Dick’s, and then they both fall asleep for real.


End file.
